Severed Hand
by chaann
Summary: AU - Deidara is the newly appointed head of the block watch, a job that really he shouldn't have applied for, let alone be given. Now he has to check up on neighbors, including that one really odd guy that scares the entire neighborhood. He can't be that bad though, right?


After the man moved in, no one made an attempt to talk to him. From the way he moved to the way his gaze shifted about; it oddly put all his neighbors at a sense of unease. The man hardly left the house as it was to shop, take out his trash and go out hunting as they would watch him load his small truck with hunting rifles and return with animal carcasses. How he took care of them after they were dragged to his garage was a mystery; or they didn't want to solve. However when they had talked to the man, he said nothing but pleasant things. His favorite thing to do? Compliment their hands.

Of course this just made forming any form of relationship with him even harder. Who complimented hands? Especially to such as an extent. No one wanted to hear how the strange man just wanted to keep them forever whilst he was moony eyed and practically salivating.

They double checked that they locked their doors now. Some installed extra security measure just to feel safe.

Newly appointed to the position of the block watch head, it was nothing like Deidara had ever imagined it would be. The name Block President really didn't live up to its name. He did it mostly so he could get away with things and change some outrageously strict rules, yet the fact no one challenged him for the high position was odd. Apparently the last head quit as soon as their new and odd neighbor moved in. Just talking to the man for a moment sent shivers down his spine; no way was he going to do regular visits and attempt to be chummy with him! Something was off.

So here left Deidara, naive, nineteen and quite unhappy with his new position. No matter what though, he was up for the challenge. The fact his gossiping neighbors mocked him for even running for the position was enough of a push to put up with the pain that was his new job- New job as it was time to do a courtesy check up on the newest neighbor like the block watch head would do.

So Deidara sat down and found out the title was 'head' and not 'president'. That explained a lot.

Deidara had honestly only heard of the man, not once even seeing him. To no ones surprise, he was genuinely not looking forward to actually meeting the guy. Just another thing in his life he could do without. It was his job though. Unpaid job mind you.

"Ugh... if I were a president, I'd get paid, hm."

Knocking at the man's front door, Deidara shuffled about nervously. He had tried to get the previous head to come with him, but the man vehemently refused going to his house and suggested it just stay at the doorway. He made it very clear that it might not be the best idea to go in there alone... because he was not coming! No way!

When the door opened, Deidara's breath was taken away by the good looking man. He was supposedly in his mid thirties, but certainly didn't look it. He had a youthful appearance, soft features and docile eyes, but even Deidara noticed the strange aura to him immediately.

The man was by no means tall, well built or even threatening. He was in fact small, frail, red haired and fair skinned. He also didn't seem bothered by Deidara's intrusion, in fact he sounded absolutely delighted,

"How may I help you today, young man?"

Deidara brushed some of his long blond hair behind his ear as he composed himself, "Hello sir, I'm the newly appointed head of the block watch."

"Yes, and I do believe I voted for you. Strange, there was only one person running though."

"Right... strange."

"And how may I help you this fine day, Mr. Head of the Block Watch?"

Deidara nodded and stuck out his hand, "Right! I'm Deidara Iwa and I'm here to check up on you! From this day forward I am your go to guy! How are-" he froze as the man took his hand into his own and began to inspect it, "-uh sir."

"My name is Sasori Akasuna and may I say... you truly have beautiful hands." He marveled, gushing over the hands he held, looking them over with such an earnest smile. "So lovely..."

Deidara looked at his own hands and then back up at Sasori. Was this guy serious? His hands were hideous! Being blessed with a pretty face and nice hair apparently came with some shortcomings. The nails were bitten, short and the cheap polish he used was chipped. Around the nail bed he had frequently picked at the skin; a couple times until they bled. His hands were dry and covered in callouses, from his palms to his fingertips. His fingers themselves were on the stumpy side and his palms were wide. They were probably the most disgusting hands on the planet!

Well, definitely the worst on the block.

"Thank you... Sasori..."

"Oh right!" The man gasped, letting go of Deidara's hand, "You had wanted to talk. Would you please come in? I have just made a pot of tea... plus it's so unusual for people to drop by. Forgive me for I am quite excited."

Deidara smiled a little. Maybe his first impression was wrong! The neighbors were also being too snobby and too judgmental, just like when he moved in a year ago. Sasori seemed so nice and like he just wanted to make some friends.

"I'd love to!"

Sitting in Sasori's living room, the sense of unease came right back. The decor was certainly no help either. On multiple shelves were many jars, filled with the organs of dead animals. On the floor was the skin of bear, and on his very arm rest of a seat was the pelt of a rabbit. Taxidermy animals like rats and squirrels were also on display. There were also various birds and even the head of a deer and a puma mounted on the wall. What surprised him the the most was what looked like taxidermy HOUSE cats- and not just one or two of them!

Even with all these dead faces watching him, something else made Deidara's heart pound and his palms sweat. Something else was watching him- or at least that's what it felt like. Flinching around in his seat he looked around once more. Nothing.

"So...I take it you really like to hunt, hm..." Deidara noted as he sipped at his tea while Sasori took his own seat across from him in a large chair, so large his feet didn't even touch the floor.

"Oh yes. After my time serving in Afghanistan, I traveled the world to hunt animals. I've been to Africa for lions, gorillas and hippopotamus, Asia for tigers and monkeys , and even to Russia to hunt bears."

"Wow... a lot of those are really dangerous, aren't they?" Deidara stated in awe before mumbling quietly, "also controversial... ya dick."

"Dangerous? Yes. The most dangerous? No."

Deidara put his tea down into his saucer, "Excuse me?"

"I must say, with my time on the battle field, man truly is the most dangerous hunt." Sasori said with eyes that somehow didn't blink.

"Oh man... I'm sorry. It must have been hell out there. You didn't come back with post traumatic stress disorder, did you, hm?" Deidara asked, worried he might end up saying something that might trigger the man into a panic attack. Such was a problem for the people returning from war.

Sasori just tittered and shook his head, "Oh heavens no. Just a newly acquired hobby of hunting."

Deidara gagged a little on his tea. Who happily admits they picked up hunting after being on the front lines of war; shooting people.

Looking around once more from his seat, Deidara stared into the lifeless eyes of the stuffed corpses of the animals in this room, and then the ones over into the adjacent room where he could see a fireplace and decorative mantle, "So you hunt them and then take them in to see a taxidermist, hm?"

"Oh no, I do all the taxidermy myself."

"You sure you don't have PTSD?"

"I assure you I'm fine."

Deidara looked around once more as an unsettling feeling of being watched rose again, "Oh uh, you live alone here right?"

"Yes."

"Uh-huh..." Deidara was at a loss of what else to talk about. Any question he asked, the man happily complied and explained all. "Do you... have a favorite?" He asked, gesturing to the man's many trophies.

Sitting up so his feet touched the floor, Sasori looked and sounded excited, "Of course! Would you like to see it?"

"Uh, sure."

Walking into the adjacent room, Deidara's nose crinkled at all the stuffed squirrels. There had to be at least twenty of them in this room alone. He was lead to the fireplace where he could once see all the way from his chair in the other room. Now up close, his blood ran cold at the gruesome sight.

There on the mantle in a large glass case, all chained up was the severed hand of a man, sliced at the wrist. It was a dark tan, shriveled dry, the nails were yellow and chipped.

Truly a disgusting hand.

"Wh-What the!?"

"That up there is my greatest trophy."

"A human hand!?" Deidara gawked in horror and disgust.

"Yes. It's the hand of the man I fell in love with."

This caught Deidara's attention, "The man you fell in love with?"

"When at war, I met a man. He remained neutral during the war and we eventually fell madly in love. That is until the day a bounty was put on my head. In an instant he was at my throat choking me as I was wanted dead or alive." Sasori spoke almost as if he was telling a sweet love story. "His attempt at strangling me to death was futile however as I cut off his hand, hunted the rest of him for three days and killed him first instead." Turning to Deidara he smiled, "I dried out the hand in the sun for a couple weeks and snuck it back home once I was dismissed. It truly is my greatest trophy."

The more Deidara looked at the disfigured hand, the more he got sick, the same feeling of being watched lingering but stronger. It was disgusting, and the way the story was told was warped to the point where he could tell the redhead was insane. If he got away, why did he have to hunt the man down and finish the job? Maybe he did have PTSD.

"Why... did you hunt.. no," he changed his question, "why do you display it like this?" he asked referring to the fact it was in a glass case and dangling on a chain; all locked up. It was most bizarre. The more he thought about it, it became more clear why Sasori hunted the man down. Of course the man would come back for revenge for his missing hand, and for the bounty on Sasori's head.

"Well you see, I don't want it to get out."

"Huh? Excuse me, hm?"

Sasori stared at the disgusting severed hand with his moony eyes, "If it gets out, it will try to kill me. I can't have that now can I?"

This man really was sick. Deidara had had enough and stormed out of there, never looking back or returning. No matter how fast he ran away, the image of the disgusting severed hand lingered in his brain- tickling it as if it were taunting him. His skin crawled, as if it were touching him, dragging those yellow nails along his spine.

Finally after a couple months of being a busy young person, Deidara finally was able to put the image aside and carry on with his life in peace. That is until the day he heard that Sasori had been murdered in the night after his neighbor heard some of the most troubling noises and called the police.

Rushing over as the block watch head, Deidara stood over the dead body of Sasori. His once beautiful fair face, was now dark purple and twisted into a look of sheer horror, teeth clenched as they seemed to now shine against the hue of his flesh. Around his neck were five bright finger shaped bruises and scratches to go along with them. His clothing was torn to expose even more scratches. Whatever happened here, there was clearly a huge struggle.

With a sudden shiver down his spine, Deidara looked up at the fireplace mantle and paled. There he saw an opened, empty glass case, the chain undone and lock bent; the terrible hand no where to be seen. The inside of the case was laced with small scratches. Looking back to Sasori's face, he noticed something odd about his clenched teeth. Taking it upon himself as the police talked to one another from behind, Deidara pried his tight jaw open. There inside he pulled out a single severed tan finger, withered and a yellow brittle nail at the tip.

There didn't seem a force of entry and the murderer went unfound. Deidara had a good feeling he knew what happened, but couldn't say anything. How could they believe him? The severed hand of a man from Afghanistan, magically came back for revenge and strangled Sasori to death? No way they would believe him!

Still, every night Deidara would have the same dream, the severed hand crawling around his walls like a spider, thick black threaded webs and more. Once he even woke up short of air and coughing, the lingering feeling of being watched hanging heavily in the dark room. From then on he invested in a nightlight without embarrassment.

The case remained unsolved, the only thing being the severed finger in Sasori's mouth. Because Sasori had no family, he was buried at a nearby cemetery where the only person to attend was Deidara and the priest. He was certain of it, even the priest seemed uneasy being there. However he wasn't scared of Sasori or his grave, it was almost as if he was scared of Deidara.

After the priest left, Deidara looked down at the grave with clenched hands, "It's you're fault I'm being haunted by these nightmares." and spat on it.

For days onwards, Deidara continued to have the nightmares. The spider-like hand crawling on his curtains, crawling on his walls and even crawling at the foot of his bed. Deidara was certain that he woke one night to seeing the shadow of the hand, casting from across his room as it stay perfectly still on his legs. Of course he didn't dare move, lest he let the thing know he was awake. He wanted to scream as he felt a single finger scratch at his leg, ending with few gentle taps until it disappeared.

The next morning he heard about it, how could he not? It was all the neighbors were talking about! The grave keeper heard strange noises during the night and went looking for the cause. There in the morning when passing Sasori's lone grave, he spotted a severed hand on it.

Immediately Deidara was there in front of the grave keeper as he talked to the police. Without even needing to look, he knew for a fact that the severed hand was going to be missing a finger- and it was.

* * *

hihi. yet another retelling of a scary story this year. ive been doing more Scary stories than fairy tales huh. can u figure out sasoris former lover? Bye losers!


End file.
